Ofsted Report
15th January 2025
Dear parents and carers,
I am very pleased to share the Ofsted inspection report from the visit in December 2024.
The hard work and efforts of pupils and staff were recognised in a range of areas; particularly, reading, phonics and maths. These were high focus areas during the visit. The report also speaks of the ‘respectful and responsible behaviour’ of our pupils.
Thanks again, to the many parents and carers who made time to talk with the inspector during the visit. The report states that ‘The school sits at the heart of the local community and is highly valued by parents and carers.’
During the visit, the inspector visited lessons, heard children read and looked at children’s work in books. The inspector was particularly impressed with the group of children – from different year groups – who took her on a tour of the school and spoke to her about British Values and how proud they were of Park Hill.
There are two steps for improvement identified for the school to work on.
Firstly, the inspector looked at a range of subjects in her focus visits; including PE, Science, English, Maths, Art and History. All subjects were found to be well planned and taught. However, she felt that the sequencing of units in History needed to be reviewed so that it helped children to learn and remember more. When she spoke to the children, some were confused about key concepts such as ‘monarchy’ and ‘civilisation’. As a result, the first point for improvement relates to History and the sequencing of units in the different year groups. The school will be working on this.
You will notice that the report has the phrasing ‘In a few subjects’ at different points in the text. This, in fact, relates only to History. The inspector explained that Ofsted cannot name a subject in their reports and she is only allowed to use this phrase. In order not to mislead you, she suggested that we write a covering letter to make this clear to parents and carers.
The second area for improvement is Attendance and, as you will be aware, this is already a high priority for the school. The inspector acknowledged that the school was working hard with families to improve attendance but that more work needed to be done to see an improvement. Please support the school in ensuring that your child attends well and benefits from the high standard of education we provide.
You are very welcome to speak to school leaders about the report if you wish.
The governors and staff are looking forward to continuing to provide the very best learning experience for our children in partnership with you.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Khan
Head teacher